The Odyssey
by Thorntons
Summary: Odyssey - a long wandering and eventful journey. Jane and Lisbon have cut their ties with law enforcement after Red John's death and are on the road. Needless to say trouble just finds them out. Although the stories will be in chronological order, they can be read as standalone stories. Complete for now but there may be some one shots later.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: The Sting**

The long tanned fingers lightly tapped on the downturned cards, the faintest hint of a smile passed his lips as he felt his wife's appreciative gaze. She had already expressed her _appreciation_ , several times by his recollection, before coming down to the gaming floor.

He would not normally look at his wife while he was concentrating, but the stakes were getting higher than his hand justified and he could tell from the not so subtle eagerness of the man opposite, that he had a winning hand. He raised his eyes to meet hers and recognising her subtle note of caution, he folded in his hand and departed from the table.

It had been another profitable evening, although that was not his primary motivation, it was more the thrill of the game that had persuaded him to try his hand again tonight. He thrived on the challenge of pitting his mind against the other players, who had given him quite a run for his money tonight.

Lisbon had wisely forewarned him not to make draw attention to himself, she didn't want any of the trouble that seemed to follow Jane around. There was still the lingering threat of the Blake Association and they certainly did not want people to start noticing them.

Lisbon couldn't deny that she had enjoyed seeing the old Jane razzle dazzle again, that slightly raffish side of him had always excited her and made him seem slightly dangerous at times. Despite their new found bliss, she didn't want him to be completely reformed. After all it had been that element of risk that first attracted her and she knew he needed it as well; you could only play at being love birds for so long.

They were relishing the novelty of being husband and wife, having only tied the knot a few days earlier. Lisbon had not expected it, assuming they would just drift along for a while, not even sure whether Jane would ever want to get married again. They had barely been in Vegas 24 hours before he unexpectedly popped the question. In retrospect, it was obvious he had planned this for some time but it took her completely by surprise, not that she had to think twice before agreeing.

"Well Mrs Jane, let's see whether we can find something to spend my ill gotten gains on. Perhaps some emeralds to go with your eyes?"

"You've already given me everything I want and more." Lisbon was still not comfortable accepting gifts, even from her husband. Having been an independent woman for all those years, she was still having difficulty coming to terms with Jane's disclosure that they were actually quite comfortably off. Not that money meant that much to either of them, so long as there was enough. Neither was given to ostentatious displays of wealth.

They paused briefly at the roulette table; everything about casinos fascinated Jane, if he wasn't playing he just enjoyed people watching, looking for the crooked dealers and the scams they were working.

Sure enough before long he had spotted something. The blonde dealer had a distinctly weary air about her and was clearly, to Jane at least, turning a blind eye to the top hatting going on at her table. The scam normally requires a collector, mechanic and distracter, traditionally a collector places high value chips on the table and after the ball has dropped a distracter diverts the dealer's attention, while the mechanic moves the chips on to the winning number. In this case no distracter was necessary, as the croupier was clearly in on the scam.

It was none of Jane's business, after all casinos were hardly running at a loss. He was just an amused spectator, wondering low long it would be before security picked up on it.

* * *

Determined to show Lisbon the sights before they set off on the next leg of their odyssey, Jane had persuaded Lisbon to go to the Stratosphere Observation Deck to see the stunning views over Vegas. As they walked hand in hand, Jane couldn't help giving a slightly caustic running commentary on the passersby.

"Look at this one in the tacky shirt, I'd guess he wears a uniform at work but over compensates in his own time. Probably thinks he's the epitome of cool, someone really should have a word with him. That's not a good look on a man his age."

"I would say it's not a good look on a man of any age." Lisbon laughed, Jane was clearly enjoying showing off to her.

"New money."Jane observed his latest subject dismissively. "No amount of expensive accessories or suits will make a man look good, if he doesn't know how to wear them. Everything is too new, it stands out a mile."

Lisbon just shook her head, Jane was irrepressible at times.

"A little bit over made up - she's just broken up with another boyfriend, so she's looking for love. Keeps on going after the same type, it's always going to end in tears." Jane paused before turning it back on Lisbon "Your turn, have a go."

Lisbon looked at the middle aged woman on the opposite side of the road and started uncertainly. "Well, she's looking around all the time and she's clutching her bag to her - I'd say she has trust issues, thinks everyone is out to get her." She looked at Jane for confirmation.

"Not bad. Either that or she's a compulsive gambler, who's just made a significant cash withdrawal and is worried about being mugged." He added, unable to let Lisbon have the last word. He shrugged apologetically, knowing a better man would have kept that thought to himself.

Lisbon just ignored it she had got used to his ways, at least he had the decency to look embarrassed these days when he slipped up.

A woman's scream came from a side alley. Instinctively Lisbon reverted back to cop mode and ran to see what was going on, ignoring Jane's pleas to stay out of it - so much for keeping a low profile. Jane knew all too well the sort of people Vegas attracted.

The woman was clearly badly shaken by the incident. Lisbon managed to find out her name was Gina, apart from that all she would say is that some muggers had attacked her.

Jane immediately recognised her as the croupier from the night before and he wasn't buying the story at all.

"Hmmm, more likely you've got in over your head Gina and they won't let you walk away." Jane commented looking her straight in the eye.

Gina spluttered, "I really don't know what you mean. Who are you? Just leave me alone." She tried to walk away but Jane stepped in front of her.

"What started it? I guess you got into debt and needed the money. You have a weary look about you, permanent shadows under the eyes, probably struggling to make ends meet." He scanned her face for a reaction. "Let me guess. Sick child perhaps - couldn't cope with the medical bills then someone offers you a way out. Understandable really, you've run out of options but there's no way out now you've been drawn in."

"My son needed an operation and the insurance wouldn't cover it, so I took out a loan but couldn't meet the repayments. I told my boss and he offered me a way out. How did you know?" She looked perplexed.

Lisbon smiled, how many times had she heard that question? "You need to tell us everything then we will see what we can do."

Lisbon looked cautiously at Jane, to see if he was in agreement. Lisbon hated violence against women having been on the receiving end of her father's drunken rages and she knew they had to do something to help; there was no way they could just walk away.

The operation seemed to revolve around three people, the floor manager Gus Travers and the punter Chas Carter and his girlfriend Carrie. Gina filled them in with as much information as she could but they needed to find out more about their personal lives.

* * *

The dealers soon got to know Jane as he flitted between tables, he always had a pleasant word for them but there weren't many opportunities for conversation, so he needed to find another way in.

"Excuse me sir, coming through"

Jane side stepped to let the teller through to his position, where he waited to be called by the floor manager. Jane surveyed the scene, as the tellers were directed by the autocratic Gus Travers to maintain the money supply at the optimum level on the floor. Travers ran it with military precision, as the tellers scuttled in between the clients then back to the vaults. They reacted to his peremptory flick of the wrist, indicating where he needed them to go. Never looking them in the eye or acknowledging them, unless they were unfortunate enough to catch his attention for the wrong reason, when his eyes would narrow indicating they were in trouble.

Travers turned on the charm when he was stopped by a client for directions, turning his fake smile off like a switch as soon as they were out of sight. Definitely not a man to cross Jane surmised.

Jane soon engineered the opportunity to chat with one of the tellers. Traverse was in his mid thirties, good looking in a square jawed sort of way, his height and build made him an imposing figure and he knew it. It seemed Travers liked to live well beyond his means, he had an eye for high class ladies but not the means to match. He was always monetising looking for new revenue streams, the latest scam was probably one of many and when security rumbled it, no doubt it would be Gina that paid the price.

Jane and Lisbon had to lay a trap for him that would get him out of the loop, before they turned to the other side of the problem. They learned that although the casinos turned a blind eye to the hospitality staff fraternising with the customers, it was strictly forbidden on the gambling floor.

Lisbon had been pretty inconspicuous to date but it was her turn to take the limelight. She sashayed down to the gambling floor in a knee length dress that accentuated her assets, without being over revealing. Travers' eyes had followed her across the floor to the black jack tables and he had noted the sizeable stack of high value chips before her, which marked her as a person of interest to him.

Jane was already positioned some way behind the dealer and was able to watch the game without drawing attention to himself. A simple signal had been agreed, which could be varied so it wouldn't be too conspicuous, if Jane touched any part of his head, it meant hit anything else meant stand.

The strategy was to lose a few hands then slowly increase the stakes and start winning some hands. They would keep losing a few hands along the way, so it did not seem too obvious but by the end of the session Lisbon would be well up on the night. Lisbon was coquettish and noisy when she won and looked up to see Travers watching her. She caught his eye and smiled like a cougar, as she ran her eyes over the younger man then she twisted sideward on her chair, crossing one slim leg over the other, to display her legs to their best advantage.

Travers eventually approached her and introduced himself. "Good night at the table madam, is there anything I can do to help you?"

"Why, that's a leading question," she drawled raising her eyebrow.

"It's all part of the service Madam, we always aim to please." He said softly as he leaned in to help her off her chair. Travers turned on his legendary charm, escorting her to cash in her chips.

"Well, I can only commend you on your customer service, I just hope the room service is as good." Her eyes left little doubt what she was suggesting.

Travers gave Lisbon his business card. "Just call me if you need anything Madam, room service is my speciality." She gave him a knowing look and made her way across the gambling floor, gently swaying her hips.

Jane just raised an eyebrow when she finally made her way over to him, in the far recesses of the room. "Very convincing, I hope you're not going to make a habit of picking up younger men."

"Hush! He's a real creep, makes my skin crawl." Lisbon left Jane in no doubt how she felt about her conquest.

Sure enough, when Travers received the call he was more than eager to oblige. Lisbon had the wine on ice ready for his arrival and it did not take Travers long to start getting up close and personal. Lisbon played along, resisting her natural urge to sock him one, knowing Jane would not leave it too long before making an entrance.

Travers head shot round when he heard the door opening, this wasn't going to plan.

"Darling I'm back, I managed to get an earlier plane." Jane called out as he entered the suite.

Jane stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Lisbon and Travers together. "Not again! Can't I trust you even for a day. Who is it this time? Well at least this one is old enough to know better."

Travers jumped to his feet "I can explain Sir. I was advising your wife on the high stakes games."

"Over champagne, what kind of fool do you take me for?" Jane growled.

Jane man handled Travers out of the room. "Just stay away from my wife."

"Very brave sweetheart, of course you knew he couldn't fight back." Lisbon mocked, after all Jane was not exactly known for his bravery. "How long shall we leave it before we call security?"

"Anytime now," Jane proceeded to make the call to security reporting that his wife's bracelet had been stolen and planting the blame firmly on Travers.

Travers looked circumspect, he knew might get in trouble for being in Lisbon's room but was not expecting to be accused of stealing her bracelet. He was astounded when the bracelet was found in his pocket and vehemently protested his innocence. Travers shot Lisbon an incredulous look when she started making a scene; the bracelet was apparently a wedding gift from her darling husband. Now she chose to remember that she was a married woman. Jane agreed not to press charges, provided that Travers was suspended with immediate effect pending disciplinary action.

Now for the second part of the sting, Jane called in a favour from a waitress he had helped out of a scrape a few years ago. Her role was to act as the distracter in the scam on the roulette table. Whenever Carter and his girlfriend deployed the scam, she would divert Gina's attention, thereby giving Gina an alibi.

Jane sidled up to a particularly disgruntled gambler; who Lady Luck had well and truly deserted tonight. "Well I'll be damned - did you see that?" Jane asked him, knowing full well he hadn't.

"Look , they did it again. Did you see that, they're cheating." Jane whispered.

"Yeah, someone should do something about that."

Jane had picked his bellicose stooge well, he had lost heavily and was in no mood to see anyone else win.

Sure enough within 5 minutes it happened again and the stooge alerted security and Jane tactfully withdrew from the scene. Meanwhile Jane's distracter had also beaten a hasty retreat and after a quick change in the wash room she was barely recognisable.

The security footage was conclusive evidence of a fraud and Carter and his girlfriend were handed over to the police, though nobody could identify the third member of the team, who was nowhere to be seen.

"That was fun, I feel a bit like Robin Hood" Lisbon declared. She had insisted they redistribute her winnings; there was still enough cop in her to ensure that she stayed just about on the right side of the argument but the buzz from the sting was undeniable.

Jane had been amused how she had thrown herself into the sting. "You're quite the cougar, Mrs Jane." Without the restraints of the rulebook, Lisbon had quite a wild side to her that definitely merited further exploration.

"Says the man, with a dubious friend for every occasion," she batted her eyelids.

"A degenerate gambler as well, Mrs Jane," he shook his head reprovingly. "Really, I'm beginning to wonder what I've let myself in for."

"Lead you astray, Mr Jane - I'm afraid that boat has sailed," she retorted.

"No reason you can't keep trying though, is there?" He said with a twinkle in his eye.

* * *

The following day a final meeting with Gina had been arranged, as Lisbon had misgivings about how things would pan out. Lisbon felt it only fair to warn Gina things were not that clear cut. "Look, you've got some breathing space but the chances are that Travers will be re-instated at some stage. He's good at his job and the casino won't want to lose him, they'll just keep him under wraps for a few weeks. My advice would be cut your losses and move on while you can."

Jane concurred. "Have you got somewhere you can go? It won't be long before they send someone else in and start pressurising again."

"I've got an Aunt in San Bernardino. We could stay with her for a while but I'll need a few days to pack and sort everything out." Gina replied.

"We want you to have a clean start. Please take this and pay off your loan, you can use anything leftover to set yourself up again. Don't worry it's the casino's money not ours, we just won it. Look on it as severance pay, after all they should have protected you from Travers." Lisbon tried to put a logical twist on it, knowing Gina would not want to accept charity.

* * *

Unbeknown to them Travers had smelt a rat and had followed them, he soon guessed what was going on and spoke to some friendly contacts in LVM PD, who were very interested in the name Patrick Jane.

The Janes had no reason to stay in Vegas and decided to do the sensible thing and make tracks in the Airstream. Lisbon had left Jane doing final checks on the vehicle, while she replenished their supplies. On her return she could hear raised voices from the Airstream. "You've picked the wrong people to cross, people who mess with us have an unfortunate habit of getting hurt."

The threat was enough to make Lisbon liberate a gun, which she had secreted in the side storage of the Airstream. In deference to Jane's dislike of guns and not anticipating any problems, she had not been armed for the last few days.

She listened in to see if this was just a warning visit or something more sinister; unfortunately there were two of them and they were not going to leave without teaching Jane a lesson.

Lisbon put on her best cop act as she launched herself into the Airstream.

"Put your hands in the air, first one to make a move gets a bullet." Jane's assailants slowly raised their hands. Lisbon spotted that one was contemplating making a move to take Jane as hostage.

"Jane, get out of the way quick." She shouted.

Jane nimbly avoided the attempted action and warned them not to mess with her. Before long he had secured their hands with plastic ties, that he kept in the Airstream and the captive assailants were dropped off on a beaten track, a few miles out of town.

Speed was of the essence, as it wouldn't be long before their assailants were picked up. They called Gina to get ready quickly, as they knew she would be the next target. They would take her to San Bernadino stopping overnight at a site enroute.

Gina's son Luca looked pale and tired, he was recovering from orthopaedic surgery following an accident and still had a cast on his leg. Jane and Lisbon soon made him feel at home, it would be a bit cosy in the Airstream but they would all cope for one night. Jane and Lisbon took it in turns to drive; Lisbon smiled as she heard Jane entertaining Luca with tricks and stories. Luca's worried face soon lit up, as he enjoyed the full Jane charm offensive. Lisbon could not tell who was enjoying it more, the big or the little kid.

Lisbon realised that they have never discussed kids; she assumed that had all passed her by, raising her brothers had been her stint at motherhood by proxy. To some extent she was more than content to enjoy what they had for a while, without any added complications.

Although she was married now, she was not comfortable with the idea of losing her financial independence and her severance would not last forever, so at some stage she would have to return to work again and was not sure how that would work with a family.

She guessed they ought to have the discussion at some stage. Although it was still early in their marriage, time was not on their side if they wanted to give it a go.

The following day they dropped Gina and Luca off at her aunt's home, before setting off towards Tijuana to continue their journey.

* * *

Jane sensed Lisbon had something on her mind."What's up, you've been very pensive today."

"I was watching you with Luca, you are so good with kids. We've never discussed having children." She said tentatively, not knowing how the subject would be received.

"To be honest, I've not thought that far ahead. I guess it's something you have mixed feelings about?" He looked quite serious.

"Yes. The selfish part of me wants to spend more time alone with you, after all we have been through the past few years. Then I see you with Luca and I feel I may be depriving you of the chance to start over and frankly time is not on our side." Lisbon was trying to be as honest about it as she could be.

"Look if it happens, it happens. We would both love any child that came along but it's not top of my agenda. Let's just make the most of what we have got for now and see how things pan out. We may feel differently when we are settled down but there are other options even if we don't have a child of our own." Jane guessed they were of one accord on this but now she had raised the subject, he wasn't sure he would cope with putting himself through fatherhood again, it might raise too many painful memories.

Lisbon took some solace in this, as it left the option open but allowed her to enjoy this period of freedom in her life, after so many years of responsibility.

Jane just leant forward planting a kiss on her forehead. "You're thinking too much Teresa. It's not an issue don't worry about it."

Lisbon smiled gratefully at him then tried to lighten the mood "So where are we going on the next stage of our Odyssey? Do you think we might be able to steer clear of trouble for a while?"

"Highly unlikely. What with St Teresa trying to fight everyone's battles for them." He responded affectionately.

Jane knew they had both enjoyed their recent adventure and were not cut out for a hum drum existence. He suspected they would continue to attract trouble along the way and mete out their own particular brand of justice.


	2. Chapter 2 - Polaris

**Chapter 2: Polaris**

The border crossing into Mexico had been uneventful and they were well on the way to their planned destination. Lisbon was still a bit disgruntled at having to leave her arsenal behind but she knew firearms were strictly prohibited and that many tourists had fallen foul of this regulation in the past and ended up in jail. She felt strangely naked without any means of defence and was sending out distinctly grumpy vibes in Jane's directions.

"Teresa just remember this is a holiday, we're not going far into Baja California, just enough to catch some autumn sun, so please can you leave Agent Lisbon behind as this region is the territory of the drug cartels. By and large the tourists are left to their own devices, provided that they don't start looking into things that don't concern them."

"I can do holidays, I know how to relax." She said defensively.

"Of course you do. I'm just saying be careful who you talk to and don't interfere in anything that doesn't concern you." Jane was already starting to doubt the wisdom of this trip, knowing Lisbon's propensity to want to fight everyone's battles. She only needed to upset the wrong people and they were in trouble. He almost wished they had ditched the Airstream and caught a flight to one of the major resorts, where they would just blend in with crowd.

They were having a brief sojourn in Mexico before wending their way cross country to spend Thanksgiving with Lisbon's family in Chicago. They had some bridges to mend, Lisbon's brothers had been none too happy about their impromptu wedding and Lisbon still felt bad about it.

Jane had only met Tommy and Annie so far and knew he was going to have to be at his most charming when he met the rest of the clan. He suspected Lisbon may be regretting telling them about the antics of her irritating consultant, in the days before they had hooked up. Initially her brothers had assumed it was a shot gun wedding, which Lisbon angrily refuted. Seriously how old did they think she was?

* * *

It was an easy drive down the coast to Rosarito and they were soon settled in a RV site just south of the city, which faced out toward the Pacific Ocean. It was a fairly modern site, Jane's own preference was for something a bit wilder but in the circumstances he thought the formal site might offer a bit more security.

As night drew on they sat on the grassy bank overlooking the beach just listening to the sound of the crashing surf. There was a distinct chill in the night air, although the daytime temperatures were still in the low 70's, the clear skies resulted in decidedly cool evenings. They huddled together watching the moonlit waves, keenly aware of the elemental forces of nature. The dark night skies, devoid of light pollution, provided a wonderful showcase for the starry night.

"Over there Teresa, that's the constellation Ursa Minor, the Little Dipper. The star there is Polaris, sometimes known as the pole star or the lode star; it marks the celestial north pole and has been the guiding star for mariners for centuries."

Lisbon already knew that but wasn't about to ruin the mood, as Jane stared deep into her eyes and began to wax lyrical, quoting some unknown poem to Lisbon.

 _"I have made You the polar star of my existence; never again can I lose my way in the voyage of life. Wherever I go, You are always there to shower your beneficence all around me. Your face is ever present before my mind's eyes. If I lose sight of You even for a moment, I almost lose my mind. Whenever my heart is about to go astray, just a glance of You makes it feel ashamed of itself._ _"_

Such an evocative piece of prose, Lisbon could not help but be touched by his words. She leant over to gently kiss Jane before breathing deeply and snuggling back up to him, then turning her gaze back towards the Pole Star. Words seemed superfluous at this point, they just held hands as they soaked in the atmosphere. Eventually Jane arose and held his hand out to Lisbon; they slowly made their way back to the Airstream, no longer star crossed lovers but united at last.

* * *

After a lazy morning catching up on sleep from the night before, they made their way into the resort of Rosarito, which had been famed as a repose for the Hollywood greats during the prohibition years. It had been frequented by the likes of Orson Welles, Rita Haywood, Hepburn and Tracy to name but a few. These days it was a favoured retirement place for American citizens, who chose to avail themselves of the lower cost of living and reasonably priced medical facilities.

Lisbon hunched over her morning coffee inhaling the nutty aroma appreciatively, as Jane surveyed the promenade with an iced tea in front of him. They had indulged in a breakfast of Mexican scrambled eggs, in truth Jane preferred the plainer version they normally made themselves but their supplies needed replenishing, so they had eaten out.

A loud female voice caught Lisbon's attention and she watched as a young female cop berated some youngsters with skateboards, who had given some elderly tourists a fright. She rattled off at them ten to the dozen, gesticulating as she left them in no doubt of her displeasure. The young cop was lithe and energetic and her mid length raven hair framed an attractive face with lively dark eyes. Lisbon could not help but smile as she watched the performance. The cop caught her eye and grinned back in Lisbon's direction, she was clearly a rookie presumably assigned to the municipal police for community policing.

Lisbon had read about the dangers of being a police officer in Mexico, the drug cartels were ruthless and several police chiefs and police officers had been most brutally murdered. Furthermore the pay was atrocious and police corruption was rife, Lisbon just hoped this vivacious young cop would be able to steer clear of trouble.

Jane smiled as he saw Lisbon's interest piqued, she clearly saw something of the younger Lisbon in the cop. He would have loved to have seen the rookie Lisbon, he bet the young bucks foolish enough to try their luck had been given short shrift.

They wandered around the street market idly browsing the stalls, they were not in the market to buy anything other than fresh goods but enjoyed the hustle and bustle nevertheless. Before long they heard the familiar voice, now speaking in accented English to an elderly American couple who had lost, or more likely been relieved of, their wallet. Pick pocketing was rife in the markets.

Jane disappeared under the pretext of seeing a tea stall and wanting to sample the selection, leaving Lisbon looking at some handcrafted local jewellery. After what seemed an eternity to Lisbon, he re-appeared well satisfied with his purchases. Jane was somewhat uncomfortable to find Lisbon getting acquainted with the young cop.

The rookie's name was Marisol Garcia, she had been delighted to make Lisbon's acquaintance once she had learned Lisbon used to be a cop herself. Jane winced when he heard them talking; Lisbon had marked herself out as a target by admitting her past and he suspected no good would come of their association.

Despite his reservations Jane had to admit Marisol was a delight, such a vibrant personality, not classically beautiful with her strong features but undeniably attractive, he could see Lisbon was quite taken with her. Over the next few days Lisbon would go out of her way to talk to her whenever she saw her, enjoying the chance to talk with a kindred spirit.

Jane knew that even the most lowly cop would be keenly watched in this environment and that her association with Lisbon would not go unnoticed.

* * *

The mornings were spent on the beach, Jane hired some surf equipment and had taken to the water. Lisbon could only admire his natural grace and balance as he rode the waves, gaining confidence as the days went on he was soon tackling some of the bigger swells, much to Lisbon's disquiet. Although she was a reasonable swimmer, the thought of being engulfed by the power of the mighty oceans still held some fear for her and she could only wonder how the man, who eschewed physical confrontation, could be so fearless in this environment.

Jane tried to entice Lisbon to join in but she would only lie down on the board and ride the gentler waves closer to shore. Lisbon preferred to indulge in her favoured recreation jogging along the length of the beach, taking in the sights as she went and having a prime view of her husband's performance on her return leg. He really was incredible with his large feet anchored to the board, maintaining his balance as he danced with the surf, his movements almost balletic as his hands and arms moved to shift his weight and counter balance the forces of nature.

* * *

Sitting in a street cafe enjoying a taco, they heard the now familiar female voice shouting out, they watched as she chased a pickpocket from the market area, taking him down and pinning him to the floor before calling over her nearby colleague to complete the arrest. A group of young men were barracking her and she just cheekily looked over her shoulder putting them down with ease. They all laughed with her as she moved on.

They watched as Marisol walked through the street market, engaging the traders with her relaxed repartee. She stopped. She had clearly spotted someone she recognized in one of the side streets and cheerily shouted out Hola before going over to greet them. With horror Lisbon and Jane heard a shot ring out and before Jane could do anything, Lisbon was out of her seat and racing across to the downed rookie. Marisol had been thrown back from the impact of the shot and was bleeding profusely from her abdomen, it didn't look good with that amount of blood.

"Someone call an ambulance," Lisbon yelled as she took command of the scene. She took Marisol in her arms gently comforting the rookie, then she took off her wrap and pressed it against the haemorrhaging wound. Jane watched on helplessly as Lisbon did her best the quell the flow of blood, the bleeding was so profuse that Jane did not hold out much hope but Lisbon continued with her ministrations. Marisol bent up to Lisbon and whispered something in her ear, before finally losing consciousness. Lisbon attempted CPR but was taken aside by the paramedics, who could tell instantly it was too late.

Jane pulled Lisbon gently away as the paramedics pronounced Marisol dead. Lisbon looked up helplessly at Jane, who was himself stunned by events. Jane pulled himself together as the approaching cops came closer. Unfortunately he didn't have the opportunity to ask Lisbon what Marisol had said before they were questioned by the cops. Jane knew corruption was endemic and wished he could have cautioned Lisbon to be economic in what she divulged. Needless to say, Lisbon recounted the full story like the good cop she had been, including the disclosure that Marisol's final word had been Maestro. The cops clearly knew who Lisbon was, presumably Marisol had told them back at HQ about the lady cop. Jane could not help but feel they were in danger.

It had been sickening seeing this vibrant life snuffed out so callously. They had gotten hardened to events like this in their time at the CBI, hiding behind a barrier of professional detachment, but they had started to let their guard down and this hit them hard, particularly Lisbon. She was tense and tetchy and Jane knew that she was contemplating getting involved in something that could well end in disaster.

"Teresa, we are in a foreign country, we have no backup or means of defence – it would be suicidal to think of getting involved." Jane tried to appeal to her sense of reason, though he didn't hold out much hope of success.

"So we just let everyone sweep it under the carpet?" She snapped back angrily.

"If we were back home of course not, but we don't even know who we can trust." Jane was starting to lose patience.

"You may be able to turn your back on it but I have no intention of walking away." Lisbon looked coldly at him.

"And what good will it do anyone, if we get killed in the process - who does that help? Just use your commonsense Teresa think about it." That was like a red rag to a bull.

"Use my common sense? That's great coming from you. Since when have you ever thought about the consequences of what you do or say?" Although she had intended that as general comment, she could see Jane's face freeze with hurt.

"Fine, do what you want." Jane turned and angrily walked out towards the beach.

Oh crap! Lisbon had not meant it to come out like that and to re-awaken his old feelings of guilt.

The small footsteps were barely audible, as Lisbon joined him outside.

"You know I didn't mean it like that Patrick. I would never throw that back at you." She said gently.

Jane just turned his head away from her, resolutely looking out to sea. Lisbon sat down alongside him. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you."

He nodded wearily, his lips set in a thin smile. "I know. But can't you understand that is precisely why I can't bear the thought of you putting yourself in danger. You can't even fall back on the 'it's my job' defence now. It's neither your job nor responsibility anymore. I know you're not going to let this drop, so let's see if we can work out a compromise. Just promise me you won't do anything stupid Teresa."

She nodded in agreement, it had been a long time since they had fallen out like this and it hurt them both.

* * *

The atmosphere was still cool in the morning, although they kept up a veneer of civility. It was not so much anger as the tension of not knowing how best to resolve the issue.

Jane decided to have a chat with Cho, to see if he could tell them what was going on in the drug scene at Rosarito.

"Teresa has got the bit between her teeth and is determined to avenge the young cop's death. I'm really worried she's going to do something stupid." Jane confided.

"That sounds like the boss." Cho replied. "You know she lost one of her friends in similar circumstances when she was a rookie?"

"No I didn't know that. What happened?" Jane's interest quirked at this, it would certainly account for Lisbon's reaction.

"Apparently she inadvertently walked in on a drugs bust and got caught in the cross fire. They never identified the shooter."

"Thanks Cho. I'll keep that to myself for now but that explains a lot. Just one more request, the last thing Marisol said was Maestro. You can read that so many ways, can you ask if that means anything to your guys?" Jane was glad they had Cho to fall back on, he was a good friend to Jane as well as Lisbon.

"Look, I'll talk to Abbott and see if we've got anyone on the ground down there who you can talk to. Whatever you do don't draw attention to yourselves. I'll call you back again tonight. Just keep out of trouble for now." Cho rang off, genuinely worried about his friend's predicament.

Jane told Lisbon he had enlisted Cho's help and that they should hold fire until he got back to them. Lisbon appreciated that Jane had made an effort to meet her half way and they decided to stay close to base and hopefully out of trouble. Lisbon undertook a punishing run to try and sort things out in her head, Jane took to the surf to kill time, though his heart was not in it.

Jane kept a close eye on Lisbon, never going far out to sea or taking on anything too taxing. He knew she needed some time alone to clear her head, although he wasn't entirely happy with her going off by herself. Jane had just started to ride a wave, when he noticed a jogger approaching Lisbon from the opposite direction. Jane surfed toward the shore, trying to keep an eye on what was happening, to his horror he saw Lisbon suddenly go down. Losing his concentration, he was soon engulfed by the wave and when he resurfaced he just saw the jogger bending down to Lisbon, ostensibly helping her up.

The strap attaching him to his surfboard was ripped off and Jane hurtled to meet Lisbon to find out exactly what had happened. Lisbon looked pale and worried when he got to her; she looked guiltily at Jane, by now accepting that his fears had been justified.

"Teresa what happened?"There were no recriminations from Jane, just relief that she was unharmed.

"He tripped me up. Before he helped me up, he warned me to mind my own business, as next time I wouldn't be walking away." She couldn't look Jane in the eye as she spoke.

"Come on, let's get out of here. If they'd wanted to do anything worse they could easily have done so. This was a warning and one we shouldn't ignore." He ushered her back along the beach, the tension between them soon dissipated as they made their way back to the RV park.

That night Cho phoned back and they put him on speaker phone. " I spoke to Abbott. Apparently we have an agent there going by the name José Fuentes. If you can make your way to Puerto Nuevo, he'll meet you there at the seafront Lobster Restaurant, lunchtime the day after tomorrow."

They told Cho about that morning's incident, it just intensified his concerns. "Seriously Lisbon you need to get out of there, just tell Fuentes what you know and get the hell out of there."

* * *

It was Marisol's funeral the following day, both Lisbon and Jane wanted to pay their respects at the burial ceremony despite the risks. Jane and Lisbon had been to far too many of these gatherings and it never got any easier. They lingered at the back of the gathering, Marisol had clearly been a popular figure and people of all ages had turned out to say their goodbyes. The distraught family were just struggling to get through the day, going through the motions of what was expected of them. Jane empathised with her parent's grief at seeing a life needlessly cut short. While he shared Lisbon's desire for retribution, he knew practically there was little they could do.

A man in his mid twenties caught Jane's attention; he was set apart from the main mourners and he looked particularly upset. A secret lover perhaps? Marisol's friends revealed that his name was Luis and he taught at the local high school. Luis and Marisol had grown up in the same neighbourhood and had known each other since they were kids.

Jane made his way over to talk to Luis, it soon became apparent to Jane that Luis was profoundly sad at the loss of his childhood friend, although he surmised their friendship was purely platonic. Luis was harbouring deep feelings of guilt about something and although Jane guessed he was not the shooter, he was pretty sure that Luis knew who was.

Jane and Lisbon watched as Luis walked away and in the distance they heard one of the school kids running down the street calling Maestro after him.

Of course! How could they have been so stupid? With their limited Spanish vocabulary, they had automatically assigned the American interpretation on to Maestro, forgetting that in Spanish Maestro could mean teacher.

It was obvious who Marisol had seen that day but Jane and Lisbon didn't trust the local police enough to say anything and opted to keep a low profile until they met Cho's contact.

* * *

They decided to relocate to a bigger more secure RV site nearer Puerto Nuevo. A few miles down the road as they approached a major road junction, Jane realised the brakes weren't working. "Hang on Teresa, we're going to crash" he yelled. Thankfully there was no oncoming traffic and the Airstream went straight over the junction and onto a patch of scrub land opposite before coming to a halt. They both counted their blessings that they had not been on the coastal road and that there had been no other traffic around.

"Someone's tampered with the god damned brakes." Lisbon fumed.

"Full marks for observation." Jane sarcastically replied.

"They must have seen us talking to Luis and assumed we knew something. We need to get the hell out of here." Lisbon retrieved their essentials from the Airstream and they waited on the roadside, in the hope of flagging down someone for a lift.

They felt very vulnerable stuck out on the roadside, just hoping the next vehicle that came along was not connected with the dealers, even Jane was thinking wistfully of Lisbon's armoury at this stage. Fortunately a passing truck pulled over and gave them a lift to the nearest garage, where they arranged for the Airstream to be towed in for repair.

They booked into a small hotel overnight, where they could stay out of sight until their meeting with Cho's contact tomorrow.

"You never told me you lost one of your friends under similar circumstances." Jane ventured.

Lisbon looked up sharply. "I guess Cho told you about Donna. We were good friends and had gone through the academy together. Only a couple of hours earlier we had been talking about a hot date she had planned for that night, then in a flash she was gone. I was no stranger to loss, having lost both my parents by then but losing one of your contemporaries always has a profound effect on you. You suddenly start to feel mortal and appreciate the life that you have." She looked over at Jane before adding, "they never found her killer."

"I guess this is why you want to find Marisol's killers so much," he said quietly.

Lisbon just nodded silently in response; in some ways it was good to get it out in the open but she had no wish to discuss it further.

* * *

Fuentes was waiting outside the restaurant smoking a cigarette when they arrived; he had been sent photographs of them, so he knew what they looked like. He tossed the cigarette butt onto the ground in front of them and briefly caught Jane's eye before grinding the butt into the ground and looking away.

"There's a small bar just ahead. Go in there and walk straight through to the back entrance, my van's out the back. Just follow instructions and don't say anything. Cho warned me you can be a right pain."

Lisbon suppressed a smile, as they followed their instructions.

Fuentes bundled them into the back of his van before driving away. "Don't want to break my cover," he explained simply. "We'll stop shortly and talk things through."

Fuentes pulled off the road by a secluded vineyard, where they could talk in complete privacy.

"Retired cops are the bane of my life." Fuentes muttered. "They never know when to walk away, we try and warn them off but they persist in messing up our operations."

Lisbon looked sheepishly at Jane before saying, "we did not go out of our way looking for trouble."

"You never do" Fuentes replied, they were not the first couple he'd had to dig out of a scrape.

Jane bridled at the slightly patronising attitude."Actually we are here to pass on information, not to be rescued."

Fuentes smirked "Is that so?"

"We were at the scene when the young cop Marisol Garcia was shot. My wife tried to comfort her and see if there was anything she could do to help. Marisol's dying word was Maestro."

Lisbon picked up the story. "We didn't know what that meant but after her funeral we realised a local teacher was the Maestro she identified."

"Ok. That ties in with what we had suspected but we had no grounds to investigate further. We'll step up the surveillance on him and see if we can finally close down that particular operation." Fuentes tacitly acknowledged their information had been useful.

"Look word on the street is that you've have caught the attention of the Cartels, they think you're undercover agents and one way or another they will be after you. You need to leave straight away, they've already had one attempt at derailing you and it won't be long before they try again."

Without further ado Fuentes drove them back to their hotel, dropping them off in the service area, so no one would see them together. After checking the Airstream was ready to go, the Janes checked out and made their way to the border crossing at Tijuana.

* * *

Safely back on US territory, Lisbon was reunited with her arsenal. Jane just shook his head as he watched her check them over, although he admitted he had kind of gotten used to having his own personal armed guard.

"It's like Christmas Day having your Glock back again." he teased.

"Best present a girl could wish for." She replied archly, while putting her Glock back into its case.

"Well I do have a slightly more romantic present for you. I intended to give it to you earlier." Jane reached nervously into his pocket.

Lisbon looked up surprised, she certainly had not been expecting anything. Jane handed her a simple box, the gift tag read "To my Polaris."

Lisbon melted as she opened it, there was a clear multifaceted gem stone suspended on a fine silver chain that sparkled and caught the light.

"It's Goshenite a form of Beryl, it's supposed to ward off evil spirits and protect traveller's from danger, if you believe that sort of stuff." Jane said softly.

"Do you not think you should have given it me earlier?" Lisbon said with a smile on her face.

"Events got in the way, there never seemed to be the right occasion." He watched contentedly, more than rewarded by her look of delight.

"It's lovely Patrick, I love the way it catches the light. I'll happily be your Polaris." She was decidedly touched by the sentiment behind the gesture.

"In fact next time we go on holiday, I will definitely be your guiding light and choose somewhere safer to go," she added with a twinkle in her eye.

Jane just shrugged his shoulders, Lisbon was not any easy person to buy for and he was content that his gift had been accepted in the spirit it was intended.

* * *

Cho called them a couple of days later. Luis had been caught passing on some drugs and was in custody. He came clean straightaway, he was racked with guilt about Marisol's death. Apparently he been doing a deal when Marisol saw him and she came running over to greet him before he could stop her. The dealers had seen that she recognised Luis and before he could do anything they gunned her down, simply because she could identify him.

Luis was moved to a safe house; he was a target himself now that the dealers knew he had been arrested. Too many witnesses were found dead in their cells. Once his family had been taken into protective custody, he finally named the culprits knowing there would be no repercussions on his family. He was given a deal in return for his co-operation; he would serve a short sentence before being released with a new identity.

The Jane's were pleased that Marisol's killers would be brought to justice, in some ways it gave Lisbon some closure about her own lost friend. She may not have been able to do anything back then but at least this young woman had been avenged.

* * *

 **A/N** The poetry is by Rabindranath Tagore. I am sure he would have struck a chord with Jane, as he was not an advocate of formal education. Tagore's mantra was that proper teaching does not explain things; proper teaching stokes curiosity.


	3. Chapter 3: Cat and Mouse

**Chapter 3: Cat and Mouse**

Strange, it was the third time that Pete had phoned Jane in a week; not that Lisbon minded after, all Sam and Pete were Jane's de facto family. It was just that they could go for weeks, even months between talking to each other, so this flurry of phone calls was just not normal.

"Everything OK with Pete and Sam?" Lisbon ventured, her curiosity was getting the better of her.

"What?" Jane said distractedly.

"Are Pete and Sam OK?" She repeated, now determined to get to the bottom of this.

Jane pulled himself out of his reverie "Oh fine, just dandy."

Lisbon had gotten quite fond of Pete's wife Sam; her forthright, no nonsense attitude resonated with Lisbon."I haven't spoken to Sam for a while; I really must give her a call." Lisbon waited for Jane's response.

"Oh Sam's fine. No need to do that, they're just busy at the moment."Jane deflected.

"Not too busy to call you though," she observed.

"Damn it woman, can't you let it drop. Pete just wants some advice - Carnie business. Believe me you don't want to know." He said rather shortly.

"OK, I'll leave it for now. I know something is going on, that you don't want to discuss with me but just don't get into any trouble."

Jane gave her a grateful smile then returned his attention to the road ahead. Lisbon would cut him some slack as he would only dig his heels in if she pushed further but he couldn't stop her listening and watching.

They had a long drive ahead of them; initially the landscape was dry and arid, so they just got as many miles on the clock as they reasonably could for the first few days, until they reached more hospitable terrain.

They enjoyed a few relaxing stopovers on route, meeting some interesting people along the way. Although essentially private people, they still needed some time away from each other and the stopovers gave them a chance to do something by themselves and engage with other people; living in each other's pockets could get a bit claustrophobic.

As their journey progressed the frequency of calls increased and Lisbon knew something was afoot. She couldn't understand why Jane was being so secretive but figured whatever was going on may be stretching the boundaries of the law.

Not long after they hit the road to Denver, Jane suddenly took an unscheduled diversion and with a roguish smile on his face he announced. "As Mexico didn't go to plan, I've arranged a short break in a luxury resort for us in Aspen, a bit of empty glamour will do you the world of good."

"You have?" She said suspiciously, Lisbon didn't particularly like having it sprung on her without any consultation.

"Yes, it's all the things you like mints on the pillow, fireplaces in the rooms, Jacuzzi not to mention the spa facilities. We'll be rejuvenated or very wrinkled, if you won't let me out of the Jacuzzi," he added with suggestive smile on his face.

"Well, you sell it very well and I can't deny a few nights in a proper bed wouldn't go amiss, although we've hardly come attired for a top class venue." Despite her reservations Lisbon decided to go along with things, after all who could resist a bit of luxury. She couldn't help but notice the self satisfied smile on Jane's face that hinted of a mission accomplished, there was definitely more to this than met the eye.

* * *

It was just before the ski season and the mountains had a light dusting of snow on them; within a few weeks the scenery would be transformed, nevertheless the views were still spectacular. After dropping off the Airstream at an RV park, they caught a taxi to their resort together with their meagre belongings; a shopping trip was certainly in order.

Needless to say the resort staff were obliging, although Jane's eyes narrowed slightly when he noticed the bellhop looking somewhat disparagingly at their luggage, Lisbon hoped the bellhop wouldn't come to regret that at some stage.

Never one to do anything by halves, Jane had booked a small mountainside suite and organised some essential items of clothing to get them through the first night, including a smart well cut suit for himself and a little black dress for Lisbon.

After settling in they got ready to avail themselves of the hotel's cuisine, eschewing the fine dining restaurant in favor of the contemporary Italian one. Lisbon had no time for all the pretensions of fine dining with its fiddly little portions; if she was eating out, she wanted some proper satisfying food. On the rare occasions she indulged herself, she had a voracious appetite.

Afterwards they made their way to the cocktail lounge, where a slick entertainer was running through his array of tricks for the amused crowd. If Lisbon did not know better, she would have sworn that she detected a flicker of recognition between Jane and the entertainer Zane Moody.

Jane started chatting to a man in the bar; Lisbon was surprised because he was not the type of person Jane would normally befriend. His name was Joel Foster and he was seemingly respectable and frankly rather boring but Jane was soon deep in conversation with him.

Lisbon's attention drifted back to the entertainer, who was very reminiscent of Jane in some ways, somewhat flashy in his brightly colored waistcoat, he had a slightly swarthy complexion and dark wavy shoulder length hair. He had the feel of a wanderer or perhaps a Carnie to him. Lisbon thought back to that flicker of recognition and put two and two together, ok that was why they were here. She would be patient and wait; if Jane wanted to play games, so could she.

When the act was over Lisbon slipped away to the powder room and on the way back she accidentally on purpose bumped into the Zane Moody, who was partaking of a soft drink while chatting to the barman.

"Oops 'cuse me. Heels, not used to them," she confided and shrugged her shoulders with a kooky grin on her face.

Zane looked warily at her before turning on his smile. "No problem. Have a good evening ma'am," then he turned and resumed his conversation with the barman.

Lisbon wasn't giving up that easy. "I wondered, my husband used to have an act. Did you ever meet him on the circuit, Patrick Jane?"

Zane's facial muscles visibly tensed "Can't say I've had the pleasure - I've been touring Europe for a while, so I'm a bit out of touch."

Jane noted the interaction with some trepidation before putting it down to coincidence, as he had no idea of Lisbon's suspicions at this stage. He called over to Lisbon, "Teresa just over here, we're moving over to the lounge area."

Lisbon turned away with a hint of her smirk on her face, Jane's voice had been ever so slightly higher than usual a tell tale sign of his nervousness. She made her way over saying to Joel Foster "Honestly, we've only been married six weeks and he does not like me to be out of his sight."

* * *

The following morning Jane announced that he had booked Lisbon a spa package for the morning, and that afterwards they would go out and buy some warmer clothes more suited to the weather. Lisbon looked surprised, that was twice he had made arrangements without consulting her. Jane was going to check out the resort and would meet her again at noon. In truth Lisbon was not much of a spa girl and definitely wasn't keen on having hands all over her, apart from Jane's naturally. She established that the booking could be split into a couple of sessions, so she settled for a quick facial and a mani/pedi before making her escape.

She phoned the room to check if Jane was there but on hearing no answer, she guessed that he was out and about. Quickly donning a hat and jacket, Lisbon started to wander round the resort to see if she could spot Jane. Sure enough she espied him in a quiet cafe, enjoying a brew and talking intently to Zane Moody.

Lisbon dipped her head down and hurried past on the opposite side of the road but not before Jane had looked up, as if with a sixth sense, and caught a glimpse of her scuttling past. He smiled, interesting what was she up to he wondered, surely she hadn't been following him?

While Jane was waiting for Lisbon to come back to the room, Pete called again. Jane told him that Lisbon had been asking Zane questions. Pete was puzzled by the faint smile on Sam's face, when he repeated that to her. Sam had unexpectedly bonded with Lisbon and she guessed that Jane had been rumbled; Pepper was one cool cat and certainly had his measure.

Lisbon grabbed a quick coffee to kill time and then went to the washroom to transform her now cold, pinched face into a sleek well made up visage. She pulled her hair up into a sophisticated knot to complete the smart look before making her way back to their room, complete with all the samples from her facial.

Jane was reclining lazily on the bed and stretched out with a feline grace when he saw her.

"All done, pampered and preened my love?" He looked at her though his lazy hooded lids.

"Yeah. Well they tried. Honestly some of the crap they try and give you. Who has time for all that stuff?" She huffed, reverting back to tomboy Lisbon.

Jane always found that side of her particularly endearing, her lack of vanity and distaste for fuss were refreshing. No matter how much she played them down, her natural good looks were undeniable.

"C'mere," he patted the bed to entice her over; quite apart from the obvious, he wanted to get close enough to her to try and read what she was up to.

She was distinctly tempted, the intent in his eyes was clear and she felt the pangs of longing."Oh no. We'll never get out of here if I join you, besides my stomachs rumbling, I need feeding."

Jane shrugged philosophically. "Can't blame a man for trying."

Deliberately Jane took her back to the tea house to see if there was any reaction, he noticed a slight quirk to her eyebrow as he guided her through the door and guessed she was on to him. Ok, if she wanted to play cat and mouse it would be fun, he just needed to make sure she didn't inadvertently upset his plans.

"This place has the finest selection of teas, a veritable cornucopia of the blessed leaf," he enthused before ordering a pot of smoky Lapsang Souchong and Lisbon's favored Columbian Latte.

Jane kept his eyes on Lisbon, looking for a flicker of weakness. Hmmm, he had groomed her too well she was difficult to read these days.

Lisbon was amused at his brazenness in returning to the same place and ventured. "So how did you find this place?"

"Oh, I came here this morning while you were at the spa." He blithely replied, returning her look without a hint of irony. Jane reasoned he may as well play it straight on that score at any rate, if challenged he could at least put together a rational explanation. "We'll have a wander round after we've eaten; you haven't had the chance to explore yet." He smiled affectionately at her, trying to keep the smirk that was itching to break through off his face.

Lisbon sensed he was teasing her slightly but two could play at that game. "Actually I had an hour to kill and had a quick look round after my spa treatment" she countered, looking him in squarely in the eyes. The sea blue eyes engaged with the green eyes in a gentle standoff. For once the sea blue eyes backed down first; after all they had the most to hide.

* * *

That evening Jane inexplicably sought out Foster again. Lisbon discovered that he was an insurance investigator, specialising in stamping out fraudulent claims. Foster was unexpectedly loquacious after being plied with a few drinks and regaled them with accounts of some of the more farfetched fraud attempts that he had uncovered.

Foster made it known that he was available for consultations and valuations for anyone needing advice; with all the well heeled people at the resort it was likely he picked up a number of commissions.

Jane unexpectedly revealed that he always put some of his money in precious jewels as a safety net, so he had always got something he could transform into liquid assets. He could see Foster's interest was quirked and suggested they meet up to get them valued sometime.

Lisbon looked at him inquisitively; he just raised his hand slightly to still her inquiries.

Jane was not the only person to voice an interest and Foster handed his cards out, so that anyone interested could contact him when they were ready.

Time was getting on and Lisbon announced she was going up to their room, on the pretext that she was still tired from their travels and told Jane she didn't mind if he stopped up for a while. He said he might try and find a card game, if that was OK with her.

Back in their room Lisbon checked out Zane Moody, well as much as she could on her phone. Sure enough, his website revealed that Moody had a Roma background and there was a noticeable gap in his activity for a few years, when he claimed to be in Europe. Lisbon wondered if that was a euphemism for jail and sent Cho a quick text to see if he could bring anything up on him. Cho soon came back confirming that Moody had been a small time jewel thief, who had indeed served time.

She slipped into some more comfortable clothes then set out in search of Jane. There was no sight of him in any of the bars; undaunted she made her way to the lobby and could just about make out Jane's head outside the hotel entrance, where he was talking to Zane again. Staying well out of sight, she ventured forward to try and find out more. Although she couldn't hear what was being said, she noticed Jane was remonstrating with Zane about something. Jane had his back to her, so he could not see her and she was careful to keep out of Zane's line of sight. There was nothing more to be gained by hanging around at this point, so she made her way back to their room. The bellhop in the elevator greeted her cordially, making polite conversation on the way up.

Lisbon quickly undressed and ran the Jacuzzi for a nice luxuriant soak before she went to bed; she guessed it wouldn't be long before Jane re-appeared. Unknown to Lisbon, when Jane was making his way back to their room, the bellhop let slip to Jane that his wife had not long preceded him. Jane could barely suppress his grin; the little minx was trying to outfox him.

Somehow the whole scenario faintly excited him, he recalled the many times they had pitted their wills against each other in the past and the unspoken sexual tension that had sparked between them. Just because they were married, it didn't mean life had to be boring. In fact part of him rejoiced in the fact that Lisbon still retained the ability to surprise him, it was undeniably tantalizing and kept them both on their toes.

The aroma of Sandalwood and Patchouli hit his sense buds as soon as he opened the door, someone was de-stressing. He smiled as he slipped off his jacket and made his way to the bathroom. Lisbon had heard his return but just lay back with her eyes closed in the soothing waters, enjoying the feel of the streams of bubbles as she inhaled the heady aroma of the scented oils. There was a slight draft of air, as the door opened and Lisbon dipped a little bit further down in the water, still keeping her eyelids lightly closed. Who was going to crack first?

Jane stood in the doorway admiring the view; this game of cat and mouse was driving him crazy. Teresa had no idea the effect this was all having on him. The trouble was he still had not worked out who was Tom and who was Jerry. He sat down on the edge of the bath, trailing his hand in the water.

"Ummm smells nice sweetheart, having a good soak?" He asked softly.

"Water's still warm," she smiled suggestively then raised her eyebrows before tilting her head towards the tub. He knelt down by the side of the tub resting his chin on the side by her face, "yes surprisingly warm after all this time isn't it, seems a shame to waste it." Both their eyes twinkled, they relished the heightened feelings between them and before long the gentle bubbles turned to waves as temptation got the better of them.

* * *

Lisbon snuggled into his chest as she made up for her lost sleep; Jane could not help but smile as he looked down at her. He had woken early, contemplating how to deal with the situation in hand.

Pete's nephew Zane had been trying to turn over a new leaf; Zane now lived a semi respectable life with his wife and two young children and he steered clear of his old acquaintances, for fear of falling back into his old ways. He was determined to keep on the straight and narrow but he had run into Joel Foster, who had helped convict him in the past and who was now was threatening to derail Zane's burgeoning career by threatening to let slip about his past unless he agreed to do one last job for Foster. The high end resorts, where Zane plied his trade, wouldn't want a convicted jewel thief working for them.

Foster was approaching retirement and was embittered at how little he had to show for the years of toil, despite all the money he had saved the insurance companies. When he bumped into Zane at the resort, Foster decided that it was time the gamekeeper turned poacher and lined his own pockets, with one final payday before leaving the business.

Foster had had identified 3 or 4 potential marks and was pressurising Zane to make his move in the early part of the day, while people were out and about, in the hope that the thefts would not be discovered before the early evening. Although the hotel offered a safety deposit facility, most people preferred the convenience of using the small safe in their rooms, although they were not particularly secure. Zane continued to resist until he and Jane could come up with an alternative plan.

Jane did not want to be directly involved but had the inklings of a plan to shift the blame onto Foster but they had to act quickly, before Foster lost patience. Although he would not be involved in the implementation of the plan, Jane needed a few hours away from Lisbon to orchestrate events. He guessed she would probably try and tail him but so long as she kept her distance, no harm would come of it and he was finding their little game quite exhilarating, as was she if last night was anything to go by.

Teresa stirred again. "Morning sleepy," he kissed her hair softly. "Any chance of you letting me get up this morning?" She grunted incoherently and slung her arm possessively across his chest, in no rush to release him or get up herself. Delightful as his predicament was, he really did have to get up, so he slowly lifted her arm up to escape and slipped on a gown before making his way to the shower.

The aroma of freshly made coffee wafted into the bedroom as Lisbon slowly opened one eye then the other to see Jane broadly grinning at her, as he placed a cup of coffee down beside her.

"You're dressed," she murmured.

"Well it's such a beautiful day and you were fast asleep, so I decided to order room service and treat you to breakfast in bed Milady." He stroked her head gently, as she slowly came back into the land of the living. "So what do you fancy doing today, we could hire some bikes and follow some of the trails if you fancy."

Lisbon looked at him incredulously to start with, and then suspecting he was bluffing, she decided to take control of the situation. "I was thinking of a more leisurely morning at the spa then maybe we could do something this afternoon. Is that ok with you?"

A smile tugged at the corners of Jane's lips, he knew full well she would be in and out of the spa in no time and back on his trail as soon as possible, if indeed she ever went to the spa.

* * *

Zane had stolen a pass card from the cleaners, then disguised as a cleaner he entered and broke the safes in the targeted rooms before finally depositing the spoils in the safe in Foster's room. Jane had got to know all the targets over the last few days and they all had taken Foster's card, following Jane's lead on getting independent valuations. He had seen a few people call on the insurance expert for advice during his stay, so there would be no suspicion when Sam and Pete called Foster, purporting to be the people at the resort, to arrange for Foster to meet them in their rooms. A burner phone, which had been connected via Bluetooth to the wireless speakers, had been secreted in the room, so that when Foster knocked the door, they could remotely call for him to come in and Foster would be caught on CCTV entering the empty room. The first time Foster just thought he must have misheard someone calling him in but the second time he was extremely suspicious, although he had no idea what was going on.

Needless to say the occupants of the rooms were alarmed when they found their doors were unlocked and naturally checked their valuables, on finding their loss they alerted security and a major investigation was launched.

* * *

By now happy that everything was in hand, Jane decided to give his little bloodhound a run for her money and took her on a merry ride around the resort, making a point of stopping and talking to various shady looking characters, all the time aware of the pair of sharp green eyes focused on him. He stopped in his favorite tea shop and to kill time he befriended a single traveler, who welcomed some friendly conversation for a change.

The temperature was starting to drop quite rapidly outside; Jane decided he really ought to put Lisbon out of her misery before she caught a chill. He made his excuses and availed himself of the facilities in the tea shop, before finding a back door from which he could escape. Pleased with himself, he doubled back to where Lisbon was hiding in wait and snuck up behind her and put his hand around her waist.

Lisbon jumped out of her skin. "Jeez, Jane you made me jump," she hissed."You're lucky I didn't lay you out flat, surprising me like that".

"Lost something?" Jane raised an eyebrow and looked at her quizzically.

Crap! She'd been rumbled but she was damned if she was going to admit it.

"I was trying to avoid you while I did some shopping. I was planning a surprise for you." She had made up better excuses but that was the first thing that sprang to mind.

"Ooh surprise! That sounds nice." He waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

By now they both knew the game was up, but neither was prepared to back down and continued with their elaborate charade, which could easily have escalated into verbal foreplay, had Jane not seen the police arriving at the hotel.

"Hello, trouble at the hotel." He watched as the police made their entrance.

"Quelle surprise!" Lisbon responded acerbically, she noted the flicker of amusement on Jane's face.

"Come on; let's see what's going on." Jane tugged at her hand and started walking purposefully towards the Hotel, all would be revealed before long.

"Keen aren't we. Can't you use your psychic powers to make a prediction Boy Wonder?" Her words were dripping with sarcasm.

"So cynical Teresa, you know there's no such thing as psychics," he responded reprovingly; she really was irresistible when she was on form.

Jane just turned and flashed his megawatt smile at her, she might not know the full story but he had no doubt she had guessed the gist of things. They arrived in the hotel lobby just in time to see a protesting Foster being led away for questioning by the police. Jane just hoped that Zane had covered his tracks properly, in theory there should be no repercussions.

"Really, Foster?" Lisbon looked at him enquiringly; this was obviously one of Jane's more devious plans.

"Seemed such a nice man as well. Oh well, can't judge a book by its cover." Jane pursed his lips and shook his head in mock disapproval.

Their verbal jousting carried on up to their room."Sam and Pete must be relieved with the outcome, they haven't phoned for at least an hour," her eyes bored into Jane, as she took in his reaction.

"Really Teresa, you're monitoring my calls now? I had no idea you were so possessive." He flippantly replied.

"You must introduce me to Zane properly sometime, though I must say he was foolish to risk another spell in jail on one of your schemes." Her eyes remained fixated on Jane's face.

The lines around his eyes started to crinkle, as he involuntarily broke into a nervous smile. "Agent Lisbon, you have been doing your homework. Bravo. Go to the top of the class." He slowly put his hands together in ironic applause.

"Nah! It was an easy case to crack, you're losing your touch Jane." They naturally reverted to their work names when they were sparring. "So let's get this into perspective, we've just helped a jewel thief escape the law."

"A reluctant one, forced back into it by a blackmailing sleazeball." Jane corrected.

"But still a crime was committed and the perpetrator walked away?" Honestly, Jane's moral precepts were so convoluted at times.

"Nothing was stolen, it was merely borrowed. The items were always going to be returned to their rightful owners." He refused to acknowledge her standpoint.

"But a theft was committed?" She persisted.

"Only in the framework of a petty bourgeois system. Let me put it to you this way, if a banker profits from moving your money around the system for their own ends, but the money is back in your bank account at the end of the day, is that theft? It may be morally dubious when the profits aren't equally shared, but theft no. Let's just say natural justice has prevailed." Jane could always make the most reprehensible things sound justifiable, although Lisbon tried hard not to drink the Kool-Aid.

"So we pick and choose which laws are enforced?" She gently countered raising an eyebrow questioningly.

"Fortunately we don't have to any more. We're not the law Teresa," a smile played on his lips as he stared back at her.

"So we've assumed the mantle of arbiters of justice, the law is there for a reason." Although she rebutted his argument, neither of them was taking it particularly seriously at this point.

"A reformed criminal, who had paid his debt to society, is being blackmailed back into a life of crime. You won't convince me I'm on the wrong side of the argument; I know who the guilty party is."He stared resolutely back at her.

"So Judge Jane takes the final decision?" Her voice was a little huskier at this stage than she intended.

"Call it natural law, takes a thief to catch a thief." He shrugged off her riposte with a smile.

"Well, I'm sure the founding fathers would be so happy to see the legislative process broken down to Jane's law." She said teasingly holding his stare full on, noting the dilation of his pupils.

They had been slowly edging towards each other as each point was raised and were now face to face, the tension was palpable, the sparring had unquestionably raised their heart rates and Jane's lips twitched in anticipation, wondering who was going to break first.

"I fear I may have to hold you in contempt of my court Agent Lisbon." He said with mock severity.

"Guilty as charged." She whispered into his ear.

It was an honorable draw in the end but they were sure looking forward to the rematch.

* * *

 **A/N** Not much plot to this but I had a lot of fun writing it.


	4. Chapter 4: Wonderful Life

**Chapter 4 : Wonderful Life**

 _ **A/N**_ _This chapter is a nod to the film It's a Wonderful Life, although Patrick Jane might be miscast as a guardian angel._

* * *

The prospect of meeting the Lisbon clan for the first time filled Jane with some trepidation; he guessed they would be well aware of his personal history and his past treatment of Lisbon, so he would have to tread very carefully. They were arriving a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving to give Lisbon an extended stay in her home city, although Stan and Karen had offered to put them up, Lisbon had opted to stay in a nearby hotel as a little bit of Stan and Jimmy went a long way.

The initial greeting from Stan was decidedly frosty; he was still smarting about the wedding and moreover he had a decidedly jaundiced view of Jane, based on Lisbon's earlier accounts of him. Stan's remarks were dripping with sarcasm; Jane really resented seeing his wife having to justify her actions, as she had sacrificed her teenage years for them and anyhow she was an independent woman, more than capable of making her own decisions.

There was no point trying a charm offensive on Stan, he just wouldn't buy it but somehow for Teresa's sake Jane had to prove his worth, not that the bar was set that high in the family he reflected ironically.

Jimmy was a different kettle of fish, not judgemental of Jane per say but still put out at being excluded from their wedding. Jimmy's gripe seemed to be more with Lisbon, who constantly lectured him about his behaviour and finally he saw an opportunity to have a go back at her.

It was going to be an interesting week, for Lisbon's sake Jane would behave but was not going to let them give her a hard time.

They were dining at Stan's on Saturday night, so they could all get together in a more convivial atmosphere. Jane carefully selected a nice vintage to take with them but was surprised by Lisbon's derisory snort "You don't know my brothers – case of beer would be more their bag."

"It's for Karen; I doubt she sees many of the finer things in life these days." Jane commented wryly.

"Look, I appreciate the sentiment but we'll need more than that, when they get started there is no stopping them." Lisbon knew her brothers well enough.

Karen smiled appreciatively when Jane pressed the specially chosen wine into her hands; she gave him a peck on the cheek before leading them in to the bear pit. It was fairly raucous, the ball game was just finishing and Jimmy and Stan had already put away a few beers. The kid's toys were scattered around the floor, undoing all Karen's attempts at keeping the place tidy. Jane quickly took refuge playing with the kids on the floor, half listening to the Lisbons talking.

"So Rees, you can't keep drifting forever, or so you keep telling me. What's next on the agenda, perhaps the all knowing Teresa Lisbon needs some career advice from her little bro?" Jimmy taunted.

"I've earned this career break; I've been the responsible adult all my life. I've worked straight through from college and it's time to cut myself some slack. Sorry if it doesn't meet with your approval." Lisbon stared Jimmy down daring him to question her further.

"You're always ready to hand out advice but can't stand it when anyone questions you." The younger Lisbon retaliated.

"Jimmy that enough, give Rees a break. I'm sure we'll find out eventually what she and Patrick have got planned. Maybe they'll send us another post card when they finally settle down." Stan exerted his superiority over Jimmy but could not resist a dig of his own.

Jane was itching to say something but knew this was between Lisbon and her brothers, he suspected that they always had a slightly tetchy relationship and his intervention would be unwelcome.

"Look, I get it that you're unhappy about the wedding but it was a spur of the moment decision, besides I'm old enough to make my own decisions and don't need anyone's permission to get married." Lisbon was getting irritated now. She turned her attention to Jane who was bouncing the new born up and down with a decidedly goofy look on his face, he was just a natural with children.

Karen tried to rescue Jane, she wanted to give the new born some formula but Jane just followed her into the kitchen and insisted on feeding the baby himself, while he chatted to Karen as she prepared the meal.

"Rees getting the third degree is she?" Karen raised an eyebrow at Jane.

"I guess it's only to be expected and she's more than holding her own at the moment. After all it must have come as a shock to you all, her marrying me of all people." Jane looked at Karen questioningly.

"Oh, I don't know, you could always tell she was soft on you, even when Rees was exasperated with you. She never really mentioned anyone else; it was obvious her life pretty much revolved around you. Come on let's get this one to bed now, so we can think about food." Jane reluctantly relinquished his charge, as Karen disappeared with the baby.

After the alcohol fuelled meal Jane and Lisbon made their excuses, but not before Jane had been strong armed in to agreeing to a night on the town with the Lisbon boys.

* * *

Jane accompanied Lisbon to Mass at St Josephs, he was always intrigued by the depth of her faith, considering all the hardship and depravity she had encountered on a daily basis. Although he could not share her faith, he took some comfort in the ceremony as it brought back memories of his late mother, who would occasionally drag him to church when he was young.

Jane hung back as Lisbon greeted some old friends after the service, she spoke earnestly to the parish priest who was clearly delighted to see her again then gave a rather serious geeky looking man a big hug. Oh that was interesting, Jane wondered what the story was there. The man smiled weakly at her, pleased as he was to see Lisbon he clearly had other matters on his mind. Jane's eyes drifted round the church and back to Lisbon who was walking towards him with the priest.

"Father Ryan, let me introduce you to my husband Patrick Jane. Father Ryan has always been a great support to me in times of trouble and is one of my dearest friends."

"So this is the man who finally tamed young Teresa, a brave man if I might say so." The elderly man grasped Jane's hand warmly as they shook hands. Lisbon excused herself to greet a newcomer, leaving Jane under the watchful gaze of the older man.

"Somehow I feel that I am an open book to you." Jane returned his look unwaveringly.

"Let's just say your name and your travails are not unfamiliar to me. I must say Teresa looks happier than I have seen her in many a year and it looks as if you have found some peace at last." Father Ryan bestowed Jane with a benevolent smile.

"We've both reached a point in our lives where we can finally move on, I can't imagine life without her." Jane felt able to open up to the older man and looked at his wife who was now back at his side.

"Father Ryan, I've just heard about the Thanksgiving fund going missing, what a shame is there anything that can be done?" Lisbon looked genuinely distressed.

"Apart from praying for divine intervention, I fear not Teresa. Times are hard and we will not be able to raise enough money to cover the Thanksgiving Dinner for the needy this year, we may have to cancel it."

For some reason Jane's eye was drawn back to the geeky man, who Lisbon had greeted so enthusiastically, he was clearly carrying some secret burden. Later when they were alone Jane probed, "so who was your friend that you were so pleased to see again - an old beau perhaps?"

"Nah, that was Woody Squires, he's simply the sweetest man you could wish to meet. We grew up together, he's such a tryer but never seems to get the breaks. He didn't go away to college, stayed at home to look after his disabled Mother, while his younger brother went to law school. Woody runs the family construction company; he's converting the old buildings by hotel into social housing, you probably noticed it." Teresa spoke fondly of Woody.

"He looks a bit troubled to me, did he say what's up?" Jane inquired.

"No, but Stan would probably know more than me, they're good friends. Woody kept an eye on the boys when I went to college."

Jane would dig a bit deeper when he went out on the boy's night out the following day.

* * *

Stan and Jimmy met Jane at Murphy's bar; Jane soon realised they were spiking his drinks to try and get him drunk. He deftly managed to swap most of the drinks around, so they ended up drinking the spiked drinks themselves. Knowing they wouldn't give up until he appeared to be drunk, he slurred his words and adopted a goofy smile. He regaled them with stories of his more outrageous antics, they lapped this up particularly when he recounted the time Lisbon punched him on his nose, having experienced Lisbon's wrath themselves they could relate to that.

Before Stan and Jimmy got too drunk Jane ventured to ask about Woody Squires; the boys were clearly very fond of Woody but no one was exempt from their humour. Stan recalled how Teresa had agreed to go to the prom with Woody, who in a misguided attempt to be hip had used a permanent marker as eyeliner. When his mother ordered him to remove it, he ended up having an allergic reaction to the cleaning solution, so Teresa ended up with a puffy faced date to the Prom, and had been teased mercilessly about it.

It appeared Woody was a kind hearted soul and employed a lot of ex offenders, as he believed in giving people a second chance but he had hit a rough patch, one of his suppliers has just gone bust after Woody has paid for some supplies and the bank would not lend him any more money.

By time Jane took Stan and Jimmy home they were completely out of it, he felt a bit worse for wear himself as he had to appear to keep up with them but wouldn't be feeling anywhere near as bad as Stan and Jimmy in the morning.

* * *

The following morning Jane took a stroll to clear his head and spotted Woody staring despondently over the footbridge towards the icy waters below.

"Well are you going to jump or not?" Jane challenged him.

Woody's head shot round – who the hell was this?

"What's it to do with you? Why don't you just leave me alone the world would be a better place without me." Woody said plaintively

"Oh pull yourself together man, self pity does no one any good and believe me I know all about that." Jane bit back.

Woody was clearly confused what to do.

"You really haven't thought this through have you; do you think the insurance policy will pay up if you do this? Of course you may not be even thinking of the insurance money, in which case jump head first off that bridge over there would be my advice, quick if not entirely painless." Jane waved his hand in the direction of the nearby traffic intersection

Woody just looked incredulous – surely he was supposed to dissuade him not encourage him?

"Though that would leave everyone in an even bigger mess, so let's assume you still want to do it but want to cash in on the life insurance. I'm assuming this isn't just a cry for help and that you do want to do it?"

Woody nodded slowly, a look of total confusion on his face.

"Alright, anything painless like pills is out, it has to be violent to make it authentic. Accident at work perhaps or skidding off any icy road into a tree, that would be my best bet, but of course you have to make sure you get killed outright, it wouldn't do to hang around and be a burden on all those people you've supported for all these years."

Jane's tone hardened. "Of course there would be no one to look after your mother, after the bankruptcy she wouldn't even be able to afford to go in a home and your high flying brother isn't likely to help out."

Woody's face fell as reality began to sink in, maybe things wouldn't be better if he were dead after all.

Jane persisted, "to say nothing of the hardship for your men losing their jobs at this time of year – who is going to give an offender a second chance?"

Jane paused before adopting a more conciliatory tone. "I do understand that when you borrowed the Thanksgiving fund , you thought you could return the money before anyone found out. How could you have known your supplier would go bust after all? No need to beat yourself up – you weren't trying to rob anyone."

"How do you know all that?" Woody ventured nervously.

"Where I come from, it's my job to know everything." Jane said with a hint of a smile on his face.

"So what do I do?" Woody asked helplessly.

"Grow a pair man and start to fight back. We'll go back to your office then you can tell me all about this supplier of yours."

"Thank you, I don't even know your name." Woody said

"Just call me Clarence," Jane indulged himself with a private joke.

Jane began to think there was something fishy about Woody's supplier Dukes, he had taken the money off Woody knowing he couldn't fulfil the delivery, then folded the company the following day. Some further investigation was in order.

Jane knew Lisbon had a shopping trip planned with Karen, so he was free for a few hours. The first thing was to monitor the supplier's premises, there were definite signs of activity. Jane made his way round to the back of the premises and saw there was a cash trade going on, they were cashing in on the stock despite the fact that they had filed for bankruptcy. Over the next couple of hours Jane took numerous photos on his phone of the transactions taking place and when it was quiet he approached the premises and Kyle Dukes appeared.

"I thought you had closed down, is it legal to keep selling stock when you have filed for bankruptcy?" Jane challenged. Dukes looked around to check if Jane was alone, Jane held up his phone to show the snaps he had taken.

"Don't even think about doing anything, copies of these photos have already been sent to interested parties. If anything happens to me you will feel the full force of the law."

Dukes eyes narrowed, was this guy for real? "So what d'ya want, a few hundred bucks to keep quiet perhaps?"

"No I want supplies, more pertinently Woody Squires order delivered in full today, unless you want the IRS to start delving into your activities. Then when you have done that, I need you to make a donation to the St Josephs Thanksgiving fund, $500 cash." Jane guessed the bankruptcy was a ruse and that Dukes was not short of money.

During the course of the day the traders that Jane had seen buying stock from Dukes, all received photographic evidence of them trading illegally with instructions to make donations to St Josephs unless they wanted a visit from the IRS.

Woody phoned Jane's burner phone a few hours later, "Clarence, I don't know how you've done it but Dukes have just delivered and the housing association have agreed to make another payment by the end of the week provided that we hit the next key stage. I really can't thank you enough. The only thing is, I've got to get the money back to the church somehow."

"Leave that to me, I'll get the cash back to the fund and you can pay me back on Friday when you've been paid, no one need ever know."

Jane went to visit Father Ryan on the pretext of making a donation to the fund himself as he knew how much the charity meant to Teresa. Father Ryan animatedly told him how some of the local businesses had rallied round with donations and that they could still go ahead with the event. Jane withdrew some bills from his wallet and asked Father Ryan to add them to the fund. When the priest opened his safe to enter the new deposit, Jane knocked something over to distract him and surreptitiously returned the borrowed funds to the safe.

* * *

Stan and Jimmy were still nursing the mother of hangovers, on seeing Jane's unaltered state they guessed they had been outflanked.

"You son of a bitch, Rees did warn us about you. How did you do that?" Stan saw the funny side of it and had a new found respect for his brother in law.

"Do what?" Jane replied innocently.

"You know damned well what." Stan gave him a friendly punch on the arm.

"Jeez what is it with you Lisbons, Teresa is always doing that." He rubbed his arm somewhat theatrically.

"Yep, she taught us well." Stan smiled as he walked off, he was going to enjoy having Patrick Jane as his brother in law.

* * *

The annual Thanksgiving event was even better than usual, Father Ryan had found the cash the next time he opened the safe and what with the surprise donations from some of the local businesses they were able to splash out on the event. Jane was the star performer for the children's event dazzling them with his tricks, even after his main act he went round the kids individually magicking little gifts up for them from behind their ears.

Stan and Jimmy watched on appreciatively, now happy that their sister was in good hands and when Jane went outside for some fresh air Stan followed him. "You're good with kids, are you and Teresa planning on having any of your own?"

Jane's lips pursed, he knew this would be raised sooner or later. "We're just taking each day as it comes, until we settle down properly."

"I just thought you'd want another kid." Stan blundered in.

Jane breathed deeply, "it's not that easy - you can't replace one child with another and I'm not even sure Teresa wants a family. She's spent all her life being responsible for other people maybe it's her time to enjoy herself."

"She's a woman, of course she wants kids." Stan was still locked to his old values and could not conceive that a woman might choose a different lifestyle.

"Look, maybe you ought to be having this conversation with Teresa, I'm just saying we are happy now but nothing is ruled in or out." It was impossible to get angry with Stan, he was a straightforward man who just had a conventional view of the world and had obviously forgotten his sister was more than capable of making up her own mind.

As the evening wore on the music started up and the dancing began. Jane had been keeping a wary eye out for Woody, he half hoped he wouldn't turn up as Jane really did not want to be unmasked. The event was getting into full swing; the Lisbon boys were in charge of the music and knew how to get the party going. Jane enjoyed a few dances with Karen to make sure she was getting her share of attention, while Lisbon happily chatted away to their old neighbours, who she hadn't seen for years. Lisbon looked up and smiled at him as he approached, her husband had certainly got most people charmed already. They ventured out onto the dance floor.

"Still getting the third degree from Stan and Jimmy?" She looked at him apprehensively.

"It's easing off but they're struggling with our lack of plans, I guess we are going to have to think about settling down somewhere before long." Jane looked into her eyes to see if she was ready to put down roots again.

"I know, we'll have to talk about it before long but let's just enjoy ourselves until the end of the year." She snuggled into his chest as they slowly made their way around the dance floor.

The music stopped and Jimmy made an announcement " I'm sure you're all delighted to see Teresa again, Stan and I would like to dedicate this track to her and her husband Patrick."

Jane looked up to see the Lisbon boys standing next to Woody, they all were grinning all over their faces. The music started up it was the old Tavares hit _Heaven must be missing an Angel_ , Jane chuckled, he knew he was busted but still hoped they wouldn't tell Lisbon. Jane just shook his head at the boys, before embracing Lisbon in a quick smooch and whisking her around the dance floor.

As soon as Woody had found out who Jane was he came clean with Stan, who had to explain the Clarence joke to him. Woody really wasn't the smartest tool in the box. Woody had been racked with guilt and had also confessed to Father Ryan earlier in the day, the only person in complete ignorance was Teresa.

When they came off the dance floor Stan formally introduced Woody to Jane. "Woody, I don't believe you've had the pleasure of meeting Teresa's husband Patrick. He's quite a character, we are learning new things about him every day."

"Patrick so nice to meet you at last, you know I could have sworn we had already met but I'm not very good at names." Woody grasped his hand thankfully, there was a look of amusement on his face as he saw a hint of embarrassment on Jane's face.

Jimmy just slapped Jane hard on the back. "Must have been his alter ego," he said laughingly.

Jane spluttered "Jeez Teresa, what am I the Lisbon punch bag?"

Lisbon shook her head "I don't know what is going on and don't want to but I'm glad to see you've bonded."

Jane was looking forward to being a fully paid up member of the Lisbon clan; whatever their faults, he knew Stan and Jimmy's hearts were in the right place. It was nice being part of a family again, particularly at Thanksgiving, no doubt there would be some twinges of sadness on the day but finally he had something to look forward to.

* * *

 _ **A/N**_ _I've struggled to get this chapter remotely readable for some reason. I may have a hiatus from this story for a while, I'll leave it open ended so I can add to it when I have some inspiration._


End file.
